The Chakma people or Changhma people, are an ethnic group from the eastern-most regions of the Indian subcontinent and Western Myanmar. They are the largest ethnic group of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh, and the largest in the Chakma Autonomous District Council of Mizoram, India. Significant Chakma populations are found in the northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam.
The Marma are the second-largest ethnic community in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, primarily residing in the Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati Hill Districts. They belong to the same community as the Rakhine people. Marmas alongwith Barua Maghs and Jumias make up the wider Magh community. There are three endogamous groups within Magh Community which are known as i) The Thongtha, Thongcha, Jumia Mags, ii) The Marma, Mayamma, Roang or Rakhaing Magh, iii) The Maramagri, otherwise called Barua Magh. They belong to the second sub tribe or group within the Magh Community.
Buddhism is the third-largest religious affiliation and formed about 0.63% of the population of Bangladesh. It is said that Buddha once in his life came to this region of East Bengal to spread his teachings and he was successful in converting the local people to Buddhism, specially in the Chittagong division and later on Pala empire propagate and patronized Buddhist religion throughout the Bengal territory. About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Over 65% of the Buddhist population is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where it is the predominant faith of the Rakhine, Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, other Jumma people and the Barua. The remaining 35% are Bengali Buddhists. Buddhist communities are present in the urban centers of Bangladesh, particularly Chittagong and Dhaka.
The Rohingya people are a stateless ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Rohingya lived in Myanmar. Described by journalists and news outlets as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. There are also restrictions on their freedom of movement, access to state education and civil service jobs. The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been compared to apartheid by some academics, analysts and political figures, including Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist. The most recent mass displacement of Rohingya in 2017 led the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity, and the International Court of Justice to investigate genocide.
The Rakhine People or Arakanese are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine State, although Rakhine communities also exist throughout the country, particularly in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions. They constitute approximately 4.61% or more of Myanmar's total population. Rakhine communities exist in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts and in India, where they are known as the Marma and Mog peoples respectively.
The cinema of Burma dates back to the 1910s. The person who created the first silent film was Ohn Maung.
Chakma is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Chakma and Daingnet people. The language has common features with other languages in the region like the Chittagonian, Tanchangya, Arakanese and others. It has 483,299 speakers in Bangladesh primarily the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and another 230,000 in India, including 97,000 in Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. It is written using the Chakma script, but literacy in this script is low.
The national language and official language of Bangladesh is Bangla according to the third article of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Almost 99% of Bangladeshis speak Bengali as their first language. Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 made it mandatory to use Bengali in all government affairs except in the cases of foreign relations. According to a 2022 census, Bengali is predominantly spoken by 99% of the country's population and it also serves as the national language of the nation. The indigenous people of northern and southeastern Bangladesh speak a variety of native languages. According to the Ethnologue, there are 36 indigenous living languages, which include 17 Tibeto-Burman, 10 Indo-Aryan, 7 Austroasiatic and 2 Dravidian languages in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has 44 indigenous languages according to Professor Shameem Reza.
The Tanchangya people, Tanchangyas or Tonchongyas are an Chinwin valley origin ethnic group living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, Indian states of Tripura and Mizoram, and Rakhine state of Myanmar.
The insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, also known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict, refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:
Devasish Roy is a Bangladeshi politician and lawyer. He is the titular Raja of the Chakma Circle, Bangladesh's largest indigenous community, and was a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2014 to 2016.
Censorship in Bangladesh refers to the government censorship of the press and infringement of freedom of speech. Article 39 of the constitution of Bangladesh protects free speech.
Kheyang is the exonym of the Hyow. There Kheyang or the Hyow (খিয়াং), are a group of indigenous people inhabiting in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The Khyang are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Bangladesh with a population of only 2,345 according to the 1991 census. At present, the approximate number of the Khyang in Bangladesh is 4500.
Bangladeshis are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
The term Jumma, also called Pahari by Bengalis, usually referred to the minority tribal group of people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, who used to claim a separate state called Jummaland. They include the Chakma, Arakanese (Rakhine), Marma, Tripuri, Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Bawm, Lushai, Khyang, and Khumi.
The Daingnet people, also known as the Thetkama people are an ethnic group indigenous to northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. According to their own internal census in 1995 they numbered about 60,000. In 2011, the number is estimated to be around 80,000. From appearance they are indistinguishable from the Rakhine people; however, the Daingnet people have a distinct language and culture. Ethnically, they are closely related to the Chakma people of Bangladesh and Northeast India. The languages of the Daingnet and Chakma people are mutually intelligible. Daingnet people are one of 135 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Myanmar government as indigenous to Myanmar. Daingnets are one of the Tibeto-Burman tribes. Genetically they are closely related to the Tibetans, Burmans and Rakhines.
The Chakma Circle, also known as the Chakma Raj, is one of three hereditary chiefdoms in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of modern-day Bangladesh. The Chakma Circle encompasses parts of Rangamati Hill District and Dighinala and Rajasthali Upazilas in neighbouring Khagrachari District and Bandarban District respectively. The chiefdom's members are of Chakma descent.
The Bangladesh Film Certification Board is a regulatory agency that is responsible for the censorship of films and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Chakma cinema, often known as Chakwood and formerly known as Chakma film, is the Chakma language film industry based in Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The first Chakma film, Tanyabi Firti, directed by Satarupa Sanyal was released on 19 July 2005. Tanyabi's Lake is the first Video film to have a commercial screening at a theatre. As the production of video films gained momentum, the Chakma film industry got expanded and around 3-10 films are made each year. Mor Thengari is the first Bangladeshi Chakma language film telling a story for the first time in an indigenous language in Bangladesh.
Aung Rakhine is a Bangladeshi filmmaker noted for his films My Bicycle and The Last Post Office; premiered at several international festivals, including the Locarno Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and Göteborg Film Festival that brings him international recognition. My Bicycle is the country's first Chakma language film.
